Where is Vikings: Valhalla filmed? Season 2 Ireland filming locations for Netflix series - can you visit

Vikings: Valhalla, set more than 100 years after the original show Vikings, follows the end of the Viking Age in Britain, taking place in the 11th century from the St Brice's Day massacre up to the Battle of Hastings.

The Netflix series follows adventures Leif Erikson, Freydis, and Harald Hardrada, as they travel from Scandinavia into Britain and across the eastern world.

Where is Vikings: Valhalla filmed?

Season two of Vikings Valhalla was filmed in December 2021 with shooting for the series taking place in locations across Ireland. Some scenes were shot near the Wicklow Mountains in County Wicklow, about a 40 miles south of Dublin. It is a popular tourist destination because of its astounding scenery, lake views, and mountain walks.

The original series, Vikings, was also partly shot at County Wicklow as well as Irish destinations. Establishing shots of the Kattegat, which is really off the coast of Denmark, and links the North Sea with the Baltic, were filmed at Lough Tay, a small lake in Ireland’s Wicklow Mountains.

Other shows that were filmed around Dublin include Bad Sisters, Miss Scarlet and the Duke, Normal People, and Fate: The Winx Saga. Meanwhile, among the films shot around the city are Disenchanted, The Lobster, Braveheart, Paddington 2, and the upcoming Cocaine Bear. We can confirm that Cocaine Bear and Paddington do not exist in a shared cinematic universe.

Some scenes for Valhalla were filmed at Ashford Studios, also in County Wicklow, where the original series was also filmed. Many scenes had to be shot on a stage because, replicating the drama of the Viking seas without actually putting the crew in danger. A similar ocean-set series, Amazon’s The Rig, was also filmed on a soundstage.

The budget of the series is not known, but according to The Irish Times, production expenses for Metropolitan Films, the company that produces Valhalla, were €104.79 million for all projects.

Underlining the increased production at Metropolitan Films last year, the firm’s production expenses last year increased from €8.7 million to €104.79 million. Therefore, Valhalla will have been made on a much smaller budget of similar shows. As well as Valhalla, Metropolitan films has also recently produced Bafta-nominated film The Banshees of Inisherin, Disenchanted, and The Last Duel.

Roughly $200 million was spent on the first season of HBO’s House of the Dragon, and the first season of Amazon Prime’s The Rings of Power is believed to have cost almost $500 million.

Creator Jeb Stuart told Collider that: "The great thing about Ireland and the Irish crew was, they had already been doing that. They had been delivering featured style shows on I Love Lucy budgets. It’s incredible what they had been able to do".

Can you visit Vikings: Valhalla filming locations?

Yes, you can visit the Wicklow Mountains National Park, a protected area of about 20,000 hectares. Free activities including field trips, nature walks, lectures and workshops are available at the park. As well as seeing locations from Valhalla, there’s chance of spotting a peregrine falcon, which are protected across the park.